Background
Mrs. Casely-Hayford was born in Axim, Ghana, on May 11, 1904. She was a daughter of Joseph Ephraim (a politician and lawyer) and Adelaide (a teacher and writer; maiden name, Smith) Casely-Hayford.
Mrs. Casely-Hayford was born in Axim, Ghana, on May 11, 1904. She was a daughter of Joseph Ephraim (a politician and lawyer) and Adelaide (a teacher and writer; maiden name, Smith) Casely-Hayford.
As a child, known then as Aquah LaLuah, Gladys Casely-Hayford did not like textbooks or arithmetic but was a voracious reader, devouring Charles Kingsley's Heroes from cover to cover at the age of seven. She could sing, dance, and write poetry at an early age. Due to her upbringing she could speak fluent English, Creole, and Fante (the language of her father). She had her primary and secondary school education in Ghana and went to Penrhos College, Colwyn Bay, in Wales, after turning down two other competitive colleges that wanted her for her talented writing.
Mrs. Casely-Hayford stopped her education in Wales and travelled with a Berlin jazz band as a dancer. She stayed with them for a long time, but started having breakdowns in 1932 and had to go home. Back home in Africa, she taught at her mother's Girls' Vocational School in Freetown, Sierra Leone. She also wrote a number of books.
Gladys May Casely-Hayford lived in Freetown, Sierra Leone, for much of her life. She moved to Accra, where her father's family lived, and where she died in 1950 of blackwater fever.
Gladys May Casely-Hayford created many inspiring and great writings. Her first poems were published in The Atlantic Monthly and The Philadelphia Tribune. Her poetry has been widely anthologized.
Take'Um So
(1948 (poetry))
Many of her poems emphasise women's freedom and pride and others reflected her life.
Gladys Casely-Hayford was very energetic and free in herself as well as in her writing. Mrs. Casely-Hayford used her energy and kindness to make better poetry. She used her self-expression to make a change in the world through her writing.
She had a son, Kobina Hunter (born 1940), an engineer, and a stepson, P. D. Casely Hayford, who was also a prolific writer.
